Dad Held In Slaying Of Baby Girl

Justine Bosworth was born premature but healthy Oct. 2. Five weeks later, on Nov. 10, she was pronounced dead in her Lombard home with a fractured skull.

On Thursday her father, Phillip E. Bosworth, 34, of 641 S. Main St., was officially charged by the Du Page County grand jury with murder and aggravated assault.

``Apparently the baby was doing nothing more than crying when we believe she was hit, at least twice, by Bosworth,`` said Brian Telander, chief of the Du Page County state`s attorney`s criminal division, who announced the indictment.

Lombard police found the dead infant after responding to an emergency call of an injured child at the Bosworth residence. An autopsy report by Du Page County Deputy Coroner Karla Conner states that the baby was hit at least twice in the head and had a skull fracture.

According to the indictment, Bosworth, an unemployed landscaper, struck the child with his fist, causing the fatal injuries, although the child didn`t provoke her father other than with normal infant crying.

Four days before her death Justine had been examined by a Du Page pediatrician. Although she weighed just over five pounds, she was given a clean bill of health, Telander said. ``She was a normal, healthy baby who should be alive today,`` he said.

Bosworth, being held in County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond, made no request to attend the infant`s funeral last Thursday, Telander said.

The two other Bosworth children, ages 2 and 5, have been taken into protective custody by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, pending an investigation by that agency.

Wanda Bosworth, the mother, is under no suspicion, Telander said. She was in another part of the house when the alleged beating took place.

Because the victim was a child, Bosworth could be eligible for the death sentence if he is found guilty of the crime and a judge determines the crime was brutal and heinous.